Adam West, of TV Batman fame, dies at 88

(RNN) - Adam West, who portrayed Batman in the campy 1960s TV series has died after a bout with leukemia. He was 88.

His death was confirmed on his official Twitter account with a post credited to the West family.

Variety reported West died Friday night in Los Angeles.

The campy, upbeat television series ran for 120 episodes on the ABC network from 1966 to 1968 and was known for it's on-screen description of the action in comic book terms such as "Whap" and "Bam."

West said adult fans told him they watched Batman reruns with their children. 

"... They love it and they watch it over and over, and their kids watch it with them," he told the denofgeek.com."I guess there was something really human and vulnerable in there, because if people have some kind of affection for the lead character, that’s when a series will have some kind of longevity."

West had gotten the Batman role after experiencing moderate success in films since his debut in The Young Philadelphians (1959), a drama where he had a small, memorable part.

In going to Hollywood, West, born William West Anderson on Sept. 19, 1928, followed the dream of his mother, Audrey V. Speer. She was an opera singer and concert pianist who abandoned her Hollywood dreams to help her family. His father, Otto West Anderson, was a farmer.

The high-profile superhero role of Batman left West severely typecast  - as it did his sidekicks Burt Ward, who played Robin, and Yvonne Craig, who played Batgirl - and caused him difficulty landing other roles.

West's Batman image defeated his attempts in The Girl Who Knew Too Much (1969) to portray a cynical tough guy and the movie was a commercial failure.   

To make a living, he did guest appearances as Batman, and made a guest appearance on The Big Bang Theory, in which he participates in a discussion about why he should be considered the best Batman.

"I never had to say 'I'm Batman.' I just showed up and people knew I was Batman," West said in the episode. "All those other guys had muscles built into their costumes. All I had in my Bat-suit was 100 percent Grade-A West." 

He later worked in films that included The Marriage of a Young Stockbroker (1971), The Curse of the Moon Child (1972), The Specialist (1975), The Happy Hooker Goes to Washington (1977) and Hooper (1978).

His projects in the 1980s included the films For the Love of It (1980), Hellriders (1984) and Zombie Nightmares (1986).

He made guest appearances on TV shows that included The Love Boat, Bonanza, Laverne & Shirley, George Lopez and Hart to Hart.

Beginning in 1989, West regained some popularity when the movie Batman, the first of a series, was released. It was followed by Batman Returns (1992), Batman Forever (1995) and Batman & Robin (1997).  

West used his distinctive voice on The Simpsons, The Family Guy, Meet the Robinsons and SpongeBob SquarePants and on video games and commercials.

He and his three spouses had six children.

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